Pickax



A. R: THOMSON PICKAX. APPLICATION FILED MAY xa. 1919. nzunwfn Nov. 2`. 1920.

To all whoa?J t may concern: l l l Be it known that I, ALBERT 'REDDLE THoM-y son, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plantsville, in the lcounty of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FickaXes, of which` the following isa specification. Y I

My invention. relates to improvements 1n pickaXes, and has particular reference to the blade or bit portion of pickaxeshavingcers tain features that are common to theform of pickax shown andr described in my Patent No. 1,262,870, April 16, 1918, and other features that are novel in the form .shown herewith, and the object of my improvement l is to produce a pickax in which'the blade or bit portion is constructedvsfo as tohave the necessary and proper strength for service and utility and which is made by a process that provides for economical use of mate rial, in that -a bar ofv stock of smaller size may be used in the production thereof. In the accompanying drawingtv Figure `1 isa side elevation of apickax. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one ofthe bit members shown in Fig. V1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, 'on an enlarged scale, on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.-

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 5-#5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is aside elevation of a bar` of stock that is used for making the .bit member shown in Fig. 2. j

Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of the same after having been operated upon by the forming dies.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the same after. p

being trimmed. f

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9--9 ofFig.8.wv v

Fig. 10 is a sectional view on the line f10 l0 of Fig. `8. i f

My improvedpickax comprises a head 10- having a transverse opening 11 for a handle 12 in the middleV or body portion 13 and. V having branches 14 extending upwardly and downwardly from the said body 13, one on each side, for removably receiving the bit members 15, the said branches 14 being each provided with a slot 16 that extends through from front to rear for providing access to' the inner end of the bit member 15 vfor the y PICKAXL purpose of drivinglthe bit member 15 from Y the branch 14 when-it is desired to changev thebit member. f

The manner of securing the bit member y,

15in thejbranch or arm 14 corresponds to that shown and described in the patent men tioned,.and comprises, accordingly, a socket` HBD STATES PATENTOFFICE. Q

ALBERT nEDDLn Thomson, or rLANTsvILLn, CONNECTICUT.

Patented Feb.y 22, 1921. .Y Application inea may 13, 1919, serial nagaan?. Reneweanovembef9,1920; serial No. 421,409. i

angle so as to meet at the middle or apex 21 p Y at an appreciable angle, ,so as to provide a V-shape. The end wall sections 20 serve as .n

the Contact wall portions of the socket 17 4for contacting, with the opposed end wall portions or sections 22 of the stem` 18, a clearance space 23 being provided between the parallel side Walls 19 of the socket 17 and the opposed side walls of the stem 18 on each. sidei The ,V-shaped wall formed by the two walll sections 20 may. conveniently be designated' as,l the roof of the socket 17 at one end of the section and as the bottom Vat the other end thereof; the said roof and bottom serving asthe holding portions of the socket 17. f.

Also, the Vshapedwa1ls of the stem 18 may be conveniently designated as the top wall at one end of thesection and the bottom Wall at' the other end thereof, each being formedbya pair of wallesections 22.

Thus the V-shaped wall structures described serve as the active holding lwalls and'he side walls 19 of the socket 17 and the opposed side walls of the stem 18 are inactive so faras concerns any holding effect.

The said opposed side walls of the stem' 18 are designatedgenerally by the character 24, and it will be noted that these Walls have an inwardly curvedy or re'e'ntrant form for the major part of the length of thestem 18, and for the major part of the width ofthe stem 18, as shown. A border portion 25 adjacent the outer corners 26 of the top wall sections 22 and the bottom wall sections 22 may be fiat and parallel with the axis of the cross section.- Thus the cross section of the stem18 comprises generally the form of i an I-beam, having lenlarged portions 28 along the top and bottom edges that are connected by the intermediate web p0rtion 29. y A Y At the extreme end portion 30 of the stem 18 the sides 31 may be filled out so as to be straight across the corners 26 so that the said end portion 30 will be adapted to serve as a driving head for driving the bit member 15 from thesocket 17 by means of a. wedge, and for which purpose an extra bit member 15 would generally be used. The stem 18 is tapered zlongitudinally from the inner end portion 32 outwardly toward the end i 30.

permits of a reduction in the size of stock that can be used for making the stem 18.

In a stem structure having parallel'sidev walls the bar stock'used mustvhave a cross section as lar e as the cross section of the largest part o the stem, which would correspond to the position of the innerV end portion 32, so that thel size of the stem would stand asV a determining factor in selectingthe size of the stock. That is to say, the cross section of the vstem would determine what the minimum size of stock must be. Actually, however, in the case of'bit members having parallel sides, such as are now in common use, the size of the stock used is determined by the cross section at the widest part 33 of the body portion 34 of thev bit member 15, which is at some position intermediate thestem 18 and the bit 35 `at the.

tip, and which has an appreciably greater area of crossy section than any part of the stem. Y v

The contour of the bit member 15 shown corresponds generally to that of bit members referred to as being in common use, and comprises a bottom edge 36. that is substantially straight and atop edge 37 of rounded, Y

convex form, with the widest portion 33,0f the structure appreciably remote from the stem 18,.

, I find that by continuing theI-beam form ofV crosssection along outwardly from the stem; 18 longitudinally along the body portion'34 up to the inner end 38 of the bitA portion 35 that I can and do obtain a distribution of the material of the bar stock in the cross sectional structure such that the size of the Y bar stock used is determined bythe cross Y section at 38 which corresponds to the junction of the body portionV 34 and the bit portion 35.

The cross section at the said junction 38 is preferably substantially rectangularA andV solid, and the area thereof is Vappreciably less then the area of the cross section ofthe stem 18 would be if not reduced as described, but suicifently lar ev to equal the area ofthe cross section oft e reduced stem structure, and also bod'ly) portion 34.-, o the Ibeam form,l as de,- scred".

I findA that inthe forming operation by rovide material for the sov Thus the dies operate on the lar 40' and; i

producey substantially the Vnished bit member 15, except for the fin orY flash 41,' which istrimmed ofl.' Y

I findA that by using a bar 4() of inches inv diameter I can produce a bit member having a cross section of rectangular form having the dimensions JZ inch by inches at the junction 38,l and having-y theoverall divmensions for the bodyat the Widest partA about inch by l inches and for the stem inch byy one inch. Y

Thus by m invention there is al saving of material, an the-tool produced is adapted to meet the usual requirements` forl service and efficiency. Y

I claim as my invention A. bit member for a pickax-.comprising a stemy at one end, a tapered bit at the otherend, and a body intermediatethey said: ends, having a generally uniform overallv thickness from the outer end of theI said; stem to` the junction of the said body and bit anda width `for the saidstex'm and generally appreciably in excess. of the width. at the said junction, and." the said; stem andA body having reduced portions along the lcngituf dinal axis;y so that'v the cross;` section of the material will not exceed the cross section of the material ati the; said junction.

ALBERT Ranura: mensen., 

